eaton centre power outage

This is why power went off at the Toronto Eaton Centre last night

Imagine you're in the thick of Christmas shopping at the notoriously busy Eaton Centre when suddenly the power goes out, and all that's left is the glow of the 108 foot red Christmas tree.

That's exactly what happened last while hundreds of people shopped in the mall, causing some confusion and a great photo opportunity. 

Toronto Hydro told CP24 that the mall was affected by larger outage that affected downtown Toronto in the early evening yesterday. 

While most of the mall went dark, the huge Christmas tree in the centre of the mall stayed lit.

Some found the the dark backdrop made the oversized tree look more magical.

Others found the presence of the red tree a little creepy when all the lights went out. One Twitter user compared the vibe to the Netflix series, Stranger Things.

Stores that were affected by the outage closed their doors temporarily, according to one Twitter user. 

Luckily, holiday shopping didn't stay interrupted for long, and the power was restored soon after the outage by Toronto Hydro.

Lead photo by

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